Git: How to squash all commits on branch

git version-control
user3803850 picture user3803850 · Aug 18, 2014 · Viewed 226.9k times · Source

I make new branch from master with: 

git checkout -b testbranch

I make 20 commits into it.

Now I want to squash those 20 commits. I do that with:

git rebase -i HEAD~20

What about if I don't know how many commits? Is there any way to do something like:

git rebase -i all on this branch

Answer

VonC picture VonC · Aug 18, 2014

Another way to squash all your commits is to reset the index to master:

 git checkout yourBranch
 git reset $(git merge-base master yourBranch)
 git add -A
 git commit -m "one commit on yourBranch"

This isn't perfect as it implies you know from which branch "yourBranch" is coming from.
Note: finding that origin branch isn't easy/possible with Git (the visual way is often the easiest, as seen here).

EDIT: you will need to use git push --force

Karlotcha Hoa adds in the comments:

For the reset, you can do 

git reset $(git merge-base master $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD))

[That] automatically uses the branch you are currently on.
And if you use that, you can also use an alias, as the command doesn't rely on the branch name.

Related questions

How do I undo the most recent local commits in Git?

I accidentally committed the wrong files to Git, but didn't push the commit to the server yet. How can I undo those commits from the local repository?

Read More
How do I delete a Git branch locally and remotely?

I want to delete a branch both locally and remotely. Failed Attempts to Delete a Remote Branch $ git branch -d remotes/origin/bugfix error: branch 'remotes/origin/bugfix' not found. $ git branch -d origin/bugfix error: branch 'origin/bugfix' not …

Read More
How do I force "git pull" to overwrite local files?

How do I force an overwrite of local files on a git pull? The scenario is the following: A team member is modifying the templates for a website we are working on They are adding some images to the images …

Read More